Justice
U.S. Senate panel bickers over Supreme Court nomination but sets vote next week
The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee reopened partisan disagreements Monday as members scheduled a vote for April 4 on Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court. Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Republicans’ criticisms of Jackson’s record and responses were either untrue or disingenuous. Meanwhile, ranking Republican Chuck Grassley of Iowa again raised process concerns. Jackson […]
Biden lays out a ‘fund the police’ budget plan
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is requesting billions in its fiscal 2023 budget from Congress to fund police departments, despite progressive Democrats’ calls for some of that spending to be reallocated to social services. President Joe Biden’s budget request to Congress unveiled Monday asks for $30 billion for state and local governments to add more […]
Fentanyl overdose crisis strategy unveiled by Gov. Polis, state lawmakers
After much anticipation, a bipartisan group of state lawmakers and district attorneys joined Gov. Jared Polis at the Capitol on Thursday to introduce legislation aimed at addressing the rise in fentanyl overdose deaths in Colorado. They propose increasing penalties for people who manufacture, sell or distribute the powerful synthetic opioid while requiring people convicted of […]
Youth ‘reasonable independence’ bill passed by Colorado Legislature
A bipartisan bill that advocates say will give Colorado youth “reasonable independence” passed the Colorado Legislature last week and now heads to the desk of Gov. Jared Polis for his signature. House Bill 22-1090, dubbed the Reasonable Independence for Children bill, would foster independence by tightening the definition of child neglect, giving children reasonable independence […]
Questions and answers on the second day of the U.S. Supreme Court hearings
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee began questioning Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson on Tuesday, giving the federal judge her first opportunity to go into detail about her life and career. Republicans, who seem unlikely to back her confirmation to associate justice, repeatedly pressed Jackson about her time as a federal public defender, […]
Ketanji Brown Jackson vows to decide U.S. Supreme Court cases from a ‘neutral posture’
WASHINGTON — Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson began her four-day confirmation process to become the nation’s first Black female associate justice on Monday, listening to hours of opening statements from Senate Judiciary Committee members before giving her own. In her first public remarks since President Joe Biden nominated her last month, Jackson, who grew […]
U.S. Senate hearings for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson to start
After more than two weeks of private meetings with nearly half the U.S. Senate, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Joe Biden’s pick for the U.S. Supreme Court, will field questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee in highly anticipated public hearings that begin Monday. Members of the panel will question Jackson for two full days, following […]
Republicans denounce Putin’s war on facts, but are silent on the one at home
This commentary originally appeared in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star. There’s a lot that’s terrible about Russian strongman Vladimir Putin’s brutal attempt to erase Ukraine from the map of Europe. From the incalculable humanitarian disaster that has seen millions of Ukrainians flee their home country, to the appalling carnage on the streets of Mariupol that was devastatingly […]
Most HBCU bomb threats may be coming from one juvenile, FBI official tells Congress
WASHINGTON — A top FBI official told members of a U.S. House panel on Thursday that the agency believes a single juvenile is behind most of the bomb threats made to more than 30 Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Ryan Young, executive assistant director of the Intelligence Branch at the FBI, said that the bomb […]
Seeing disparities in missing person cases, lawmakers seek changes
To some people with missing loved ones, it’s painfully obvious how much more attention from media and law enforcement is paid to white women who disappear, as compared with Black people, Indigenous people and other people of color. Older people who go missing, as well as those from LGTBQ communities, also get overlooked compared with […]
Judge denies request to block Colorado campaign donation limits for 2022 elections
A federal judge upheld Colorado’s campaign contribution limits Thursday when he rejected a request from a group of Republicans to suspend the state’s voter-approved limits. “I stress that there is no right to give or receive unlimited political contributions and no right to be free from having to make a choice regarding campaign financing,” U.S. […]
Tina Peters released on bond from Mesa County jail
Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters was released on bond Thursday evening after spending one night in jail following this week’s grand jury indictment, according to the county sheriff’s office. District Court Judge Matthew Barrett set a $25,000 cash-only secured bond for Peters during a Thursday afternoon hearing and clarified that it had to […]